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"I have never welcomed the weakening of family ties by politics or pressure" - Nelson Mandela."He who travels for love finds a thousand miles no longer than one" - Japanese proverb."Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence." - Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights."When people's love is divided by law, it is the law that needs to change". - David Cameron.

Thursday, 19 December 2013

Manish

“All I want is to be able to look after my parents when they need me most.”

Manish is a British citizen of Indian origin, living in the UK for over 8 years.

He made an informed decision to become a British citizen and make UK his primary residence; the people he met here and our multi-cultural environment were what convinced him this was the right decision.

He is now concerned however that this decision is now taking him away from his parents – parents whose well being is his responsibility. Parents who have sacrificed their happiness to raise Manish to be the decent upstanding citizen he is today.

His parents have been through a lot of hardships and now Manish feels it is his turn to take the weight of their shoulders; to take care of them. Yet he feels helpless because of UK’s immigration rules.

Manish is the sole earner in his family and has been helping them financially for the last few years while trying his best to visit them every year or invite them over to the UK for a visit.

However the last few years has seen his dad’s health deteriorating. As a cancer survivor since 2010, things were going well, until 2013 when Manish’s dad suffered from severe cardiac arrest where he narrowly escaped death. Although recovered now, Manish is haunted by a fear that this could happen again to him.

All Manish wants is to be able to look after his parents in their old age – to have them living here with him so he can look after them. He is prepared to take our fully comprehensive private healthcare cover to ease the burden on the NHS if that’s the concern. However the door has been slammed shut even for those who would not be a burden on taxpayers; even where it means we lose skilled British citizens to other countries that allow family unity.

Manish is a higher-rate tax payer and has never used any benefits or exercised recourse to public funds. He earns enough to support his family, including his parents – yet is being denied the right to do so. He is not alone in finding the UK’s immigration rules for adult dependant relativesvague and ambiguous.

He just wants to be able to look after those that gave him life, when they need him most. It’s not too much to ask.